Charged with Assault & Battery in Maryland?

First Degree

Second Degree

Second Degree
(of an Officer)

25 years

10 years and/or $2,500 fine

10 years and/or $5,000 fine

§ 3-203. Assault in the second degree (a) Prohibited. — A person may not commit an assault.(b) Penalty. — Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, a person who violates subsection (a) of this section is guilty of the misdemeanor of assault in the second degree and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $ 2,500 or both.(c) Law enforcement officer. (1) In this subsection, “physical injury” means any impairment of physical condition, excluding minor injuries. (2) A person may not intentionally cause physical injury to another if the person knows or has reason to know that the other is: (i) a law enforcement officer engaged in the performance of the officer’s official duties; or (ii) a parole or probation agent engaged in the performance of the agent’s official duties. (3) A person who violates paragraph (2) of this subsection is guilty of the felony of assault in the second degree and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding $ 5,000 or both. § 3-202. Assault in the first degree (a) Prohibited. (1) A person may not intentionally cause or attempt to cause serious physical injury to another. (2) A person may not commit an assault with a firearm, including: (i) a handgun, antique firearm, rifle, shotgun, short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled rifle, as those terms are defined in § 4-201 of this article; (ii) an assault pistol, as defined in § 4-301 of this article; (iii) a machine gun, as defined in § 4-401 of this article; and (iv) a regulated firearm, as defined in § 5-101 of the Public Safety Article.(b) Penalty. — A person who violates this section is guilty of the felony of assault in the first degree and on conviction is subject to imprisonment not exceeding 25 years.

What should you do if you are charged with assault and battery in Maryland?

This crime can land you in jail or prison for an extended period of time, depending upon the degree of injury of the person alleged to be the victim of the assault. The most crucial thing to know is that you must contact a Maryland assault & battery defense lawyer as soon as possible after you are arrested. Defending these cases often requires interviewing witnesses that could assist in your defense, and they can get harder to find as time passes. At the Law Offices of John Adams the legal team has assisted countless individuals over the years with such charges and is very skilled in the area of how to defend such a case.

Assault & Battery Defense Lawyer in Maryland

Assault is defined in the Maryland Code as: “an unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit an injury on the person of another.” Notice that you don’t actually have to have hurt the other person to be charged with assault. This can make for a very complex legal situation. For instance, an individual claims that you threatened him or her with harm, and you had the ability to commit the injury. You will now have to face the legal problem of being charged with assault. You could have been responding to their actions (defense) or the incident may not have occurred at all. Nonetheless, you are facing legal problems. With the assistance of a criminal defense lawyer from the Law Offices of John Adams, the case will be fought aggresively to defend you. Battery is defined in the Maryland Code as: “any willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another.” When a person is injured in a fight or other physical incident, the charge is often “Assault & Battery”. These crimes bring penalties that include jail, fines restitution, supervised probation, and a criminal record. Never proceed without a skilled criminal defense lawyer if you have been charged with assault, battery, or assault & battery. You can easily land in jail with severe consequences for life. With the protection of a superior lawyer from the Law Offices of John Adams, you ensure that you will get the best representation striving for the optimum outcome for your case. We are prepared to fight aggressively to defend you in court. Contact a Maryland Arson and Malicious Burning Criminal Defense Attorney from the Law Offices of John Adams if you are seeking a high-powered, relentless criminal defense lawyer to fight aggressively for your defense of an assault or battery case.